A so-called memory card (an example of a card-type storage medium) formed by packaging nonvolatile memory, such as flash memory, into the shape of a card has widely been known. Information devices including printers and multifunction devices, which are each integrally equipped with a connecting device (an example of a storage medium connecting device) for enabling electrical connection with a memory card, have recently been available on the market. In such an information device, data can be exchanged between the memory card and the information device without using a PC (Personal Computer) by directly connecting the memory card with the information device.
Specifications of the memory cards have not been unified yet, and a plurality of standards (memory card standards) are now present. Typical memory cards commercially produced in accordance with the plurality of standards include; Compact Flash (registered trademark, and hereinafter abbreviated as “CF”); SmartMedia (registered trademark, and hereinafter abbreviated as “SM”); Memory Stick (registered trademark, and hereinafter abbreviated as “MS”); an SD memory card (registered trademark, and hereinafter abbreviated as “SD”); an XD card (registered trademark, and hereinafter abbreviated as “XD”).
These types of memory cards differ from each other in terms of the shape of a connection terminal, the number of terminals, or the sizes and shapes of the memory cards. Therefore, the information device is provided with slots and sockets compatible with the respective memory cards in order to enable connection of the respective types of memory cards.
A socket mounted on a substrate has a plurality of terminals connected to a plurality of terminals on the substrate. When a memory card is inserted into the socket, a plurality of terminals of the memory card are connected to the terminals of the socket. Thus, the memory card is electrically connected with the substrate via the socket.
Various proposals regarding countermeasures against static electricity discharged when a memory card is inserted into the socket have been made, as disclosed in JP-A-2005-150183 and JP-A-2003-249314.